Collapsible case



@ctt. 3611?, 11951 a ARMENIA COLLAPSYIBLE pAsE Filed Feb. 6, 1947 JMNTOR GIORGIO ARMENIA ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE Application February 6, 1947, Serial No. 726,883

In Italy August 27, 1946 V 1 Claim.

The object of the present invention is to pro-- vide a collapsible case which, when not in use, may be folded up so as to occupy only a very restricted space.

All the various parts of the case are connected by hinges and the relative operations of opening up and folding up the case are thus rendered particularly simple and easy.

The invention is illustrated in the attached drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the case when folded;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the case of Fig. 1 when. partially opened up;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the case of Fig. 1 when completely unfolded and assembled for use;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of one of the hinged joints between the lid and the back wall of the case; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the hinged joint between the lid and the back wall after the lid has been folded against the back wall and showing means for supportin the lid in a vertical opened position.

Referring to the drawing, it will be understood that the case is built up substantially of a bottom l, two side walls 2 and 3 and two ends 4 and a lid 5.

The side 2 forms the front of the case and is connected to the bottom I by means of hinges 3| mounted on the outer edges of a short side panel 32 which is rigidly fixed to the bottom I. The hinge 3| comprises merely a pin 33 passing through a hole in one end of the L-shaped brace 33a which is screwed to the edge of the panel 32 and the edge of the bottom I Thus the front 2 can fold along a line L which is spaced from the bottom by a distance equal to thickness of the other folded parts as shown in Fig. 1.

The side 2 is also provided with two grooves 6 adapted to receive the ridges I mounted on the edges of the end walls 4. The top edge of the front side 2 is reinforced on the inside with a beam 8 which extends along the whole length of the top edge and Which engages the lid 5 when the case is collapsed. The top outer corners of the side 2 are provided with hinged clasps each comprising a short arm having a pivotal connection 2| to the side 2, a hinge 22 positioned at the top edge, and a long arm 23 having a hole 24 therein adapted to engage a pin 25 mounted on the outer edges of the top 5.

This clasp can pivot around the connection 2|- so that the hole 24 can also engage a pin 26 on 2 the outer edge of the base I as shown in Fig. 1. The length of the arm 23 is substantially equal to the total thickness of the folded case as shown in Fig. 1.

The side wall 3 forming the back of the case is hinged to the bottom I by the same type of hinge as used for connecting the front 2 to the panel 32, namely by means of a pin 35 passing through a, hole in an L-shaped member 36 which is screwed or fixed to the base I. Like the side wall 2 the inside edges of the wall 3 is provided with grooves adapted to receive the ridges l on the end walls 4. On the top edge 40 of the side 3 are mounted two stops I6 which are pivotally mounted on the pin 4| to the inside of the side 3 and are adapted to be rotated through to the vertical position shown in Fig. 5 so that the top 5 will rest against this stop while the case is being filled. This latter position is shown in broken lines in Fig. 5.

The ends are hinged to the inside of the bottom I and may be lowered as shown in Fig. 2 to lie inside the bottom. The upper edges 9 of the end walls 4 are adapted to fit into slots in formed between the upstanding ridge 43 and the side framing 44 of the inside of the lid 5 as shown in Fig. 2.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the lid 5 is hinged to the top edge of the side wall 3 by means of double jointed hinges 25 which permit the lid 5 to swing from the closed position of Fig. 4 through an angle of 275 to lie against the side '3 as shown in Fig. 5.

The folding of the case is carried out easily. The lid 5 is turned over to lie on the outer face of the side 3. The end walls 4 are then folded to lie on the inside face of the bottom I; the side wall 3 andlid 5 are then folded over on top of the flattened end walls 4. Finally the side wall 2 is turned over the lid 5. The arm 23 of the clasp II is then rotated through an angle of 90 and bent downward to seat the pin 26 in the hole 24 of the arm 23. The case will now be completely folded and ready for carrying by means of the handle 45 which is fixed to the outside of the panel 32, as shown in Fig. 1. Thus it is seen that the same clasp II which is used to maintain the lid closed when the case is assembled for use as in Fig. 3 is also utilized for maintainin the case in the folded condition as shown in Fig. 1.

The invention has been described in detail above by way of example and not by way of limiting the invention. It is understood that the invention may undergo structural alterations 3 within the skill of the art without transcending the scope of the invention which is indicated in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In a collapsible case, the combination of a bottom, end walls hinged only to the bottom and adapted to fold inwardly and rest flat upon the bottom, a side wall hinged to the bottom and having a toppanel hinged to its upper edge, said side wall and top adapted to fold flat upon the flattened end walls, a side wall hinged along a line spaced from the bottom edge by the thickness of the other folded parts, and locking means pivotally mounted at the top of said last-mentioned side, said means being hinged to'lo'ck the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 505,061 Myers .r Sept. 12, 1893 1,088,488 Urdang Feb. 24, 1914 1,206,702 Hawes Nov. 28, 1916 1,523,141 Pullen et a1. Jan. 13, 1925 1,778,406 Sundee Oct. 14, 1930 1,855,943 Day Apr. 26, 1932 1,997,517 Hammersley Apr. 9, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 377,637 France July 17, 1907 

